“Well, that was interesting, although it didn’t bring us any closer to finding out what is going on in your family.” Jon stretched out his back as he and Dirk waited for the elevator. His stomach reminded him they’d missed lunch and he was looking forward to getting something to eat.
“No.” Dirk stabbed the elevator button again as if it would make it arrive any faster. “I thought she had more sense.”
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with her falling for a wolf shifter.” Jon placed his hand on the small of Dirk’s back. “Getting pregnant was a bit irresponsible, but you can’t blame her if she was as in love as she said.”
“Yeah, but the bastard still ran out on her, didn’t he? It’s the only reason she turned up here. She’s shit scared of what her father will say. Fuck, could you imagine the stink if we had gone through with the marriage and she popped out puppies or furry dragons?”
“I think they’d be kinda cute.” Truth be told, Jon was jealous. Celine didn’t want her baby and Jon wasn’t sure what would happen after the birth. He looked across at his mate. Does he want children? “It was nice of you to offer her an apartment until she works out what she’s going to do.”
“I wasn’t going to leave her stranded. She’s still one of our own, even if she did plan to trap me with a kid that wasn’t mine.” Dirk punched the elevator button again. “What the hell is the hold up?”
“I ordered the elevator stopped on this floor,” a voice behind them said. “Dirk, I see you’ve visited with your fiancée. I trust things have been worked out to a mutually satisfying decision?”
Dirk’s father. It couldn’t be anyone else. They could have easily passed as twins, although, as Jon took in the details of the imposing man standing in the hallway, he revised his opinion. Mr. Hollingsworth senior was slimmer, had less muscle, and there were shots of gray through his dark hair.
“Father.” Dirk stepped in front of Jon, his shoulders rippling with tension. “I’ve talked to Celine, yes. We’ve both agreed a marriage won’t work between us and have mutually agreed to call it off.”
Actually, Celine was still hoping Dirk would marry her and save her from being cast out from her clan, but the apartment and offer of financial help was as far as Dirk was prepared to go. She still didn’t believe he and Dirk were true mated, even after Dirk showed her the scar on his neck. Then she offered a marriage in name only. Jon’s dog had been ready to tear someone’s throat out all afternoon. Now he bristled as Dirk obviously tried to protect him.
“The contract has been signed. You two will be married in ten days.” Fuck. These dragons were stubborn. Mr. Hollingsworth wasn’t backing down and Dirk’s anger filled the air.
“You do not have the right to tell me who I should marry.” Dirk stepped forward. “I have told you until I am blue in the face that I have claimed my true mate. You told me I was banished. Fine. I don’t care. But nothing on this earth will force me to give up Jon.”
“I don’t think he will be a problem anymore.” Dirk’s father waved his hand. “Take him.”
Strong hands gripped Jon around the neck and he ducked and rolled. Two goons. Dragons, but that’s all he registered before his hands came up and flames poured from his fingers. FLAMES! The scale on his heart burned and Jon shuddered as he shifted. Suddenly he was looking down at Dirk who was still standing but looking up in amazement. What the fuck?
“What sorcery is this?” Dirk’s father backed up the hallway. Jon did a quick mental check. He was in fur. He was fucking big, but he was still in his dog form and that was all he needed. Curling back his lips, he snarled as he padded forward.
/~/~/~/~/
Ooh, I knew he’d look beautiful like this. Dirk’s dragon was chortling in his head.
This is your doing? Dirk watched as Jon advanced on his father. His rumbling snarl, the length of his teeth. Beautiful wasn’t a word Dirk would use. More like lethal.
Of course. He wears our scale. Nothing will hurt him now.
The flames might have been a bit much. Jon could’ve burned himself.
He’s immune to dragon fire in both forms. Yep. Dirk’s dragon was having a great old time, but Dirk wasn’t sure he was prepared to let his mate kill his father. Jon had his father backed up in a corner, his head low as if prepared to strike.
“Jon.” Dirk ran over and reached up to put his hand on his mate’s shoulder. “My father didn’t mean it. Don’t kill him.”
“He was trying to separate us.” The growled words sounded so foreign coming from furry lips – yet another present from his dragon.
“I know, babe. I know, but I’m sure he’s got an explanation?” Dirk glared at his father.
“A merger with the Ahlbergs would have meant millions for us. Celine’s dowry alone would have doubled my hoard.”
Dirk could see his father was trying to call on his dragon. But just as his had left him when Bryce was beating him, his father’s dragon wouldn’t raise a claw to help. “You have a huge hoard, Father. You gloated about it when I asked you to invest in the company. That money wouldn’t have been yours anyway. It was for Celine and I.”
“Mr. Ahlberg promised that money to me. It was mine for arranging this marriage. You marry the girl and I get the money.”
Jon snarled and swiped out his paw, knocking Dirk’s father to the ground. “No one threatens our mating.”
“This is why dragons don’t take their true mates.” Dirk’s father pointed at Dirk accusingly. “Look what your dragon has done. Shared his power with a lesser being and created this monstrosity. None of us will be safe.”
Dirk laughed. Totally inappropriate, but he couldn’t do anything else. His father was still hiding something; he could tell that much without Jon’s enhanced hearing or sense of smell, but right then it just didn’t matter. Stroking Jon’s fur, he shook his head at his father. “Jon isn’t a danger to me or anyone else who carries a dragon spirit. He is my true mate, father, and with him by my side, there is nothing I can’t accomplish. I suggest you get on your fancy jet and fly home and let Mother know she won’t need that new dress after all.”
“What do you mean? Where are you going?”
“Back to New York, of course. To run my company. Like you, I read my contracts and there’s no way you can fire me. There’s no condition in the contract for me losing my position unless one of my brothers challenge me. This arranged marriage of yours was a suggestion, not in my contract. Now that I know Jon can take care of himself, I don’t see any reason why I can’t do the job I get paid for.” Dirk had only held off because he’d been worried about his mate’s safety. Seeing his magnificent mate in his current form, all those worries slipped away. “Come on, mate of mine. You’ve wrecked another set of clothes. Is there any chance you can squish yourself back into your original form so we can fit in the elevator?”
Jon snapped his teeth at the cringing man on the floor and then padded over to the elevator door, investigating the two piles of ash sitting there. Only when he was satisfied nothing was left of the men who tried to take him, did his massive bulk start to shrink. In less than a minute, he was back as the gorgeous Shepherd he’d always been.
Thank you. Dirk’s dragon gave a shimmy of delight as Dirk took his companion out for a meal; leaving a crying Celine in her suite and a flustered, but decidedly seething, father on the floor.